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Russian Charity Event Drew Putin, but Perhaps No Money

Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin has been projecting a tough-guy image, with wide distribution of photographs of him, from left, game hunting on a horse, in a mini-submersible in a lake and skiing. But his singing-dancing appearance at a fund-raiser has raised questions about the substance of these events.Credit
From left, Alexey Druzhinyn/RIA Novosti, via European Pressphoto Agency; RIA Novosti, via Reuters; Ria Novosti, via Reuters

MOSCOW — Turn on Russian television and one is bound to see images of Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin skiing, riding a horse or flying a plane. He has also been shown shooting a tiger with a tranquilizer dart and chasing whales in a dinghy while wielding a crossbow. It is all part of a well-honed tough-guy image.

But in December, viewers saw his softer side. Mr. Putin, though not previously known to be musically gifted, sang a sweetly rendered version of “Blueberry Hill” in English, accompanied by a live jazz band. He also played a grand piano.

The occasion was billed as a charity event for hospitals treating children with cancer. But three months later, the mother of a 13-year-old girl with cancer who believed her daughter would benefit from the event is saying that no money ever made its way to the hospitals.

The mother, Olga Kuznetsova, sent an open letter to the authorities and the news media on March 3, causing a stir in Russia — and not only for the suggestion of possible fraud at a charity, serious though that would be.

The letter was politically charged because it seemed to draw back the curtain, if only a little, on the carefully stage-managed public appearances of Mr. Putin on state television, often built around ostensibly official tasks.

While stopping short of directly blaming Mr. Putin for the lack of financing for the pediatric oncology wards, the letter suggested that the concert’s primary purpose was to showcase the prime minister’s singing talents rather than aid children with cancer. The authorities have denied this was the case.

News on state television is generally awash in reports of Mr. Putin’s activities. Last summer, for example, the news showed the prime minister co-piloting a firefighting airplane, though he is not a pilot. Mr. Putin’s whale chasing was said to aid scientific research by obtaining tissue for a biopsy.

In her letter, Ms. Kuznetsova wrote that three months after the charity concert where Mr. Putin sang, called “Believe in a Dream” — also attended by Hollywood stars including Sharon Stone and Kevin Costner — nothing had changed in the cancer ward of St. Petersburg City Hospital No. 31, where her daughter is receiving treatment.

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“I know people are ready to do a lot for their own gain,” she wrote, without clarifying whether she was referring to the prime minister or the charity itself. “But really, are they willing to do it with the help of sick children?”

There was confusion about whether the event raised money and, if it did, whether any money was distributed.

Kommersant, a Russian business newspaper, reported Wednesday that the charity was founded only a few days before the concert on Dec. 10, long after the event was planned.

Vladimir V. Kiselyov, the director of the charity, called Federation, said in an interview with Dozhd television this week that the concert was intended to draw attention to the cause of treating children with cancer, not to raise money. Nevertheless, each guest was given an envelope, he said, and any donations were later distributed to specific children.

An assistant for Mr. Putin’s press spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said Mr. Peskov was out of the office on Wednesday and would not be available to comment. Mr. Peskov told gazeta.ru, an online newspaper, that the concert had raised money for pediatric oncology wards that had not yet been distributed. It takes time to buy the medical equipment, he said.

Mr. Peskov said that, in any case, Mr. Putin was not affiliated with the charity. “Putin did his part, he attended the event,” and performed with the understanding that the proceeds would go to charity.

A version of this article appears in print on March 10, 2011, on Page A5 of the New York edition with the headline: Charity Event Drew Putin and Attention, but Perhaps No Money. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe